-4 



U 



S P E E C 11 



^^: 



1' 



MR. WARNER L. UNDERWOUD, 

Delivered in the House of Representatives, Jiugust 5, 1S56 — upon General 
Politics and the ^tate of Hie Union. 



Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. CHAInMv^f:— 

Noiliinj:; but u liigh ;ind stern sense of duty 
\vould authorize rnu, under existin'^ circuin- 
siancfeK, to iresjVtiss on the time of the commit- 
tee. Having been indisposed all the day — 
during' much of the time in bed, yet I have 
come here tonight to deliver my .sentiments 
and opinions on some of tiie questions now 
agitating the publie mind. I would that I were 
able to go largely into their consideration. 
Time not permitting me lo do .so, I trust 1 may 
be excused for taxin? the patience of the com- 
mittee, but for the few moments 1 shall oc- 
cupy on this occasion. 

Mr. Cliairman: There never has been a pe- 
riod in tile history of liiis Republic when tiie 
heart of the jiatriot was more chilled with fear 
and apprehension in regard to the future suc- 
cess and happine.<s of the nation, than the pre- 
sent. I will not undertake to paint, in the 
colors of attempted oratory, the darkness and 
danger now tlireaienin^ in the political sky. 
Without going into all the cause.s for this sad 
condition of affairs, 1 shall content myself with 
the simple declaration, that the great cause of 
all our trouble is, a wide-spread and pervading 
Sectionalism — the growth of the neglect of the 
wise precepts of Washmgton. We have, in prac- 
tice, disregarded his warning voice, that there 
should be no sectional parties in our country, 
divided by geographical lines. In his Farewell 
Address, the noblest monument of wisdom ever 
erected, save by the voice of mspiration, the Fa- 
ther of hisCountry uses these memorablewords: 
"In contemplating tlie causes which may dis- 
turb our Union, it occui'S as matter of serious 
concern, that any ground should have been fur- 
nished for characterizing piarties by geograph- | 
ical distinctions — whence designing men may ! 
endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real • 
difference of local inierests and views. One ' 
of the expedients of party to acquire influence , 
within particular districts, is to misrepresent ' 
the oriinions and aims of other districts. You 
cannot shield yourselves too much against the ' 
jealousies and heart-burnings which spring ; 
j'rom tliese misrepresentations. They tend to i 
render alien to each other, those who ought to , 
be bound together by fraternal afl'ection." | 

! could these words of more than parental ; 
affection, and of high prophetic warning, sink j 
deep into the hearts of his countrymen ; and | 
that we might pause, for a iwoment, from the } 
tumults of faction lo hear and to heed these 
words of wisdom. | 

Now, sir, 1 declare that there is nothing j 
which so much endangers the existence of our | 
institutions as the continued agitation of the 



1 slavery question. Let me cari-y my friends 
: back to the time in our history when llie divided 
fraijments of our now common country were 
fir.-Jt joined in thebeauiilul symmetry ot our pre- 
sent Union, and our fathers, of every section, 
met together as a band of bi'others. Do you, 
Mr. Chairman, does anybody, suppose that if 
there were then the same bickerings and sec- 
tionalism, the same crnnination and recrimina- 
tion as there are now, we would to-day have a 
Union of tiiese States? No, sir, our glorious 
land wou'd have been covered with irregular 
warring elements, without th;it coherence so 
essential to an enlarged national prosperity. 
Thtre would not cluster around onr homes and 
hearts the proud meinories of the deeds of our 
common ancestors, in a great common cause,' 
to establish independence and Union fbr our 
common country. 

I say, sir, if ever this Union' fs^'dfssolred, iih 
I almost begin to suppose, froni the signs of 
the tinips it may possibly be, it must be owing 
to the fact of these local, sectional and partisan 
questions beingforced upon theattentionandac- 
tion of Congress. And, sir, the gentleman (Mr. 
Cragin) who has just taken his seat, wil: pardon 
me an allusion to his remarks. I listened to then* 
with some degree of attention, and I will c^ll 
that of the House to what seemed to be then- 
drift and purport. If there was any significance 
in the observations made by the gentleman, it 
v/as to show that m the original compact be- 
tween these States, the North had the worst 
of the bargain by tolerating any representation 
to the South based on its slave population, 
and that the North ought not to stand by 
the bargain. 1 ask that gentleman and those 
who entertain such views, and present them 
continually from day to day, if they are dis- 
posed to follow out the conclusions and conse- 
quences of their arguments? If so, the dav 
will come when this bond of Union which has 
united us so long, will ce^se longer to exist. 
If such is not their purpose, is it not worse than 
idle — nay, is it not mischievous^-that tiiey 
should continually attempt to produce discord 
and disaffection, by harping upon imaginary 
grievances, they have no intention to redress 
in the only methods by which it may be done, 
viz : by an amendment of the Constitution in 
this regard — or by a dissolution of the bonds 
that bind us together as one people. ' 

I will not undertake, iVlr. Chairman, to dis- 
cuss the question of slavery. There is much 
to be said upon th.at subject, but it is my pur- 
pose* now to abridge, in the smallest possible 
space, what I have to say. I will eay this, 
however, that the North oug-lit to be careiul- 



AiiiKiioaa Uigan, Print. 



^»-V. 






ought to be tender — ou^ht to be respec.ftil, even 
upon the basis of their own action, and their 
own past history, in re^jard to this .slavery qiifs- 
iion. Say wiiat you will in re^^jird lo ii, who 
does not'ki'Ow that it was by the vote of the 
Nonii that the coniinimnce of the siave-trade 
was, by your Consiitntion, extended iVoiu the 
vear )bOU, v/jien the Soiiili insisted it i^liould 
f-ease, to lf"U8, to whicli the North Kuccess- 
f illy urijed it should be extended. And within 
that eipht years, it is estimated that sr^nie hun- 
dred thousand shives were brou^ih:. to this 
'-■ountry, mainly, if not altogeiiier in Northern 
ships, under that modification of our constitu- 
tional compact made at the instance of ^'orih- 
ern capiiaiist.s and mercliants, aJid cariied in 
the convention that formed onr Constitution by 
Nortiiern voies. The necessary consequence 
of that is, that the increas--e from th^it number of 
slaves, ainouniing to some four or five iiundred 
thoti:Kapds, now wear those " icalliii^ bonds of 
slavery" which tiieyseem so much to deplore. 
1 do not ^ay this for the purpose of bruising 
up any " railing accusation" against the North. 
1 say it to you. Northern gentlemen, that you 
may yourselves reflect upoji the attitude wiiicii 
you yourselves maintain and occupy upon this 
question — that you may understand that there 
have been changes which have come over the 
spirit of your dreams, even in reference to tliis 
question of slavery ; and that it is a fact re- 
cordeijrairainst you in earth and in heaven, 
that in the convention for forming the Consti- 
tutiuti <.f the United Stales in 1767, the New 
England States voted uiuinimousiy to vvitJilioid 
from Congress the power to abolish the Afri- 
can slnve trade until IbOd, although by uniting 
with Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, &,c., 
they might have abolished it in l&bC. 

1 liuve said sir, J would not tliscuss the sla- 
very question, but I cannot forbear to declare 
my opinions based upon some observation — 
that ijie African man upon the whole lace of 
God's broad globe occupies upon no pari of it, 
so favorable a position morally, socially ano 
physically, as he does in the Slave States of 
this Union. If there be a spot upon the earth 
which compares with it, it is Liberia. There- 
lie has many advantages— and J uould they 
wer^ greater — tor I declare myself here a deci- 
ded advocate of Colonization under proper cir- 
cumslttnces, — yet I say that the social comfort 
and condition of the AtVican man in Liberia, 
according to my information and belief, in the 
aggregate, with some particular exceptions is 
not equal to what I believe it to be here with- 
in these United States in the Slave Slates. [ 
say furthermore, 'iiat if you will contrast the 
condition of the Kentucky slave with the libe- 
rated black man in the Northern states of these 
United States, you will lind ihe same contrast 
in favor of the former. 

I go further than this ; 1 recognize fully and 
do all justice to the fact, that the white labor- 
ing classes of the Northern States are in many 
instances, worthy and esteemable people. I 
have passed among them u\ nearly every one of 
the Northern States. I have cjiiversed with 
their husbandmen and mechanics, I kr.ow them 
to Le in many i»atances respectable, triist- 



worthy and independent. Yet further than 
this, 1 have explored the depths of Northern 
society, and I declare here, on the floor of 
Con<.Tess, that 1 never saw so much moral and 
KocinI degredation among our slaves as I have 
nebi) in your larse ci ies of tlie North — amon'^ 
large classes of white people, v.ho dwell in cel- 
lars and in garrets, in the lieart of your cities. 
I have never seen anything like it in the con- 
dition of slaves, I cannot say less, 1 will not 
say more on the subject. I say this much for 
the purpose of appealing to those v.'ho are con- 
stuntly interi'ering with our institutions to 
pause and see tiie folly of their supposed phi- 
lanthropy. Your are mistaken in it. Sir, I 
do not know any greater or more fatal injury 
that you could indict on the negro tharr to 
strike as you are pleased to call it, "the shac- 
kels off the slave." There is a problem which 
a distinguished gentleman on lliis flotu' (.Mr. 
E.\NKs) supposed at one time was not settled. 
But, sir, 1 think it is settled in regard to thia 
question ; .".nd that problem is as to the stronger 
race trampling down the weaker. It has been 
so. It wilt be so. It must be so, and wherev- 
er nature and God has marked a difference of 
race and ha.s manifested the inferioritj' of the 
one, you cannot establish anything like equality 
l)etween tiiem whilst living on the same soil. 
It cannot be. It must not be. f have seen it 
attempted often. 1 have seen the negro edu- 
cated. I have seen him gified with fortune, 
blessed with affluence and elevated by educa- 
tion beyond many thousands of white people 
who surrounded him, and after a few yeara 
I. have seen him again relaf)se into his natural 
condition, of settled inferiority — and social, 
pecunary and moral degredation. 

So long then as tiiese relations exist, so long 
as the line of demarcation fixed by the Al- 
mighty, between the different classes of the- 
huinan family exists, you must make corres- 
ponding discriminations m your social organi- 
zation. 

I said it was not my purpose to discuss the 
Slavery question. It is not ; and I atn almost 
inclined t:> ask pardon for having devoted so 
much time to it. I will, however, allude to 
one other puiiit. I am not prepared to admit 
that any one of ourNorthern Staies has relieved 
iti^elf of what Aiey now characterize the incubus 
of slavery from any principle of humanity. If 
the thing was done, it was done under the in- 
flience of self-interest. So it will generally be 
found, and so it has always been, and when- 
ever slavery ceases to be a matter ol interest, 
tlien in all human probability, and not till then 
will the United States be relieved of it. 1 have 
sometime thought, sir, I think now — however 
inscrutible it may lie to us — that, perhaps, one 
of the wisest dispensations of Providence is to 
be found in tiie iact that some of the African 
race were placed iiere under t'le benign influ- 
ence of cliristianity, and the elevating ten- 
dencies of Anglo-Saxon civilization, whence 
possibly in some day they may contribtue to 
transfer these exalted blessings, to christian- 
ize and civilize benighted Africa. 

There is another view of tiiis subject which 
I. desire to present. I wate, as a matter of 



diimentnl oonditions of God mid in;in \\ liich 
nre established, and in Rubordinatiyii to wliich 
we Iiave mir liping. We all know that in 
large portions of the United Siates and 



positive his-tory and of actual fact, now obtain- i tiona (inchiHinp: tije question of Blavery) in 
msrat iliispresentmoment,thatthe North is now | their owrt way. Tliatisthe principle on whi;h 
denvinjjasmiutlipecuniary benefit, day by day, ; our country was settlfd, when our faibeis 
Hiid hour bv hour, from I hs firoceeds and pro- ! planted themselves ;tt Jamestown, and al'>i><j- 
fits of slave lal)or,as the South is. 1 have sta- [the whole extent of the Atlantic const. Whin 
tisiics by which this proposition can be esfnb- ' those sftilements wereni;u!e, which have sine:, 
lislied. We car :t war <i<j:ainsi the gr^at fun- ! ,2:ro\vn i:p as by mngic, into great cities, ni'-' 

might V 'States, everything werit on quietlv r.d 
harmoniously. There was no such iliing as the 
agitritioii of slavery ; and why.' Because the peo- 
p'e wer'- let"t to reguhite their own instiiut'orj.s ; « 
many portions of the world, there are vast Ithey pleased, without the intermeddling inter- 
regions of country where, from physical in- | ference of their neighbors. The colonists 
herein properties'of the white man's nature, brought their slaves iuto the colony of Massa- 
he caiHU't woik. And we know, furtlier- chuseits, as well as Virginia, and all the other 
more, that from the physical inherent prop- i colonies, and there wore no agitation, crimina- 
ertie.s of the African, he is fitted to work there, tion or complaint, the one against the other — 
What i.s the result of that labor? Your ! each regulating its policy and its morality for 
cotton, your sugar, you rice, and your tobac- ' itself— under the .salutary principle, which it 
CO crops are the four great elements of South- | would be well if modern philaiiihropists would 
ern productiiHis, supplying the field of North- jJearn, of minding your own business and let- 
em labor, fV;un the manufictures-^shipments ' ing your neighbois alone 

— sales, conunissions, &c , on which the ', 1 do not propose to go at !en<!^th into the ar- 
Norih, as everybody knows, derives a profit jgument as to the const. tntionality of the Mis- 
as great, if not greater, than is derived by it j souri Compromise ; yet I must say, that from! 
from its own primary production. Why is it, 'the best consideration I have been able to give 
t!ien, that the North rejoices and exults in the subject, that Compromise was in conflict 
these, whilst she is coniiniially decrying the j with the Constitution. The language of that 
sources and instrumentality whence they i sacred instrument, having relation to tiie ques- 
spring ? I tion, is as follows : 

I now come to that great que.stion, which j "The Congress .shall have power to dispose 
seems more than all other questions to be the .of and make ail needful rules and regulations 
particul.ir nucleus around which is clustered all j respecting the territory and other property'be- 
ihe discussion of the present day — that ques- | longing to the United Slates." 
lion is the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, i The power thus vested in Congress, in re- 
1 have no concealment of any opinion which I I gard to the territory and other [)r<)perty be- 
enteriain in reference to this subject. I am longing to the LTiiited States, confers no power 
no candidate for office or for popular favor. 1 I in Congress in regard to the " territory or 
seek no pr(UUOtion at the hands of man or mor- | other property" of the citizen ; and when Coii- 
tal. I never expect again to be a candidate for i :i*ess undeilalies to declare th:!t my slave or 
office, and I shall consider this question as all ; my horse shall cease to be my jirojierty, when 
others — as an .American citizen, without re- i he crosses a certain geographical line, it departs 
gard to any consequences that may arise, per- from us ieiitimate functions, in regard to the 



sona! alone to myself. I do not hesitate to sav, 
that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to 
a certain extent, in regard to the peace and har- 
inuiiy of the ci>untry, may have been a misfor- 
tune. I say, to a certain extent — for I should 
regard it as desirable to have the peace aii({ bar 



territory and property of the United States, 
and grossly invades my private and individual 
rights. The great question as to what should 
or should not be property, is not legitimately 
the subject of ordinal y legislative action, either 
State or national. The American peopi e have 



mony which we enjoyed before the repeal of that ever regarded tins question as so vital and im- 
aci, restored. Yet I have to say, that that mis- I portant, that they never intrust it to any other 
fortune exists in so far, and in so far only, in j than to a high constitutional convention — con- 
niy judgment, ihat the repeal of the Missouri ' gregated under the most solemn sanctions— and 
Compromise has been made a pretext for those | usually subjected to their revisory action, 
agitations which are now threateninir to o\ erturn I This great American principle is destructive, 
the institutions of the country. But I do not ! in my judgment, of all the modern notions of 
regard it as apolitical wrong'; and had I been popular sovereignty in the Territory, whereby 
here as I was, though not as a representative ! the first .'>0 or .5(10 men that get to the Territory, 
of the people, I should have voted for the re- 'after its establishment by Congress, may meet 
peal of the -Missouri Compromise. No South- ' in a legislative .\ssembly, and declare what 
ern man, in my judgment, could well refuse to '' shall or shall not be property in that Territory ; 
have voteu fur its repeal. 1 believe, and I here ' and yei to this doctrine I understand Mr. Bu- 
state dis'.iiicily, that in my o[)inion, the princi- j chanan nnv,-, and his followers, to be distiiicily 
pies embodied in the bill repealing that compro- j committed. 

inise, are the true principles of the Constitution I But I return to the question of the Missouri 
and '.he true policy of the Government, and that ' Compromise. I hold u to be inconsistent with 
they are tiie true principles on which our Ter- | the spirit and history of the American people, 
ritorics are to be settled — that is, to leave the ' and the character and genins of our Goveru- 
I'erriiories, v.hen they come to adopt their ^ ment and institutions, to suppose for a moment, 
constitutions, to settle Uieir domeatic inati^u- ! that those great men who formed our Consuia- 



lion — many of whom had fought- in tiie Revo- . ted to him. ' Why sir, he declared in tHe SenHte 
lotion, nnd uil of wliom were pre-eminently j of the United Statee that he did not know even 
. ftiroiliar with tll^; principles upon which the that he voted for it, and expressed great dia- 
(, colonies decltired their independence of Grfat i trust of its constitntionality. 
Ptrirain — sliould, v/lien they came to form aj ISTow 1 say to gentlemen from the Northern 
Constitution for their couritry, establish that i states, that v/hen 1 have shown that many 



b y^'y principle, and confer on the General Gov 
, -pr n men t that very power, to resist which, the 
.(,■5^:01:, of the Revolution iiad been successfully 
, way:ed. I mean the power of a legislative as- 
sembly to make laws for those not represented 
iherei " . - . 

elect 



of the most distinguished men of that day, and 
ever since, hare declare their belief in ihe un- 
constitutionality of this Missouri restriction, is 
there any occasion for denouncing the men who 
repealed it, in such terms of bitterness and vitu- 
The people of the Territory, may i peraiion as they continually use, or for arous- 
Delegate, and he may speak, but j m^ such fresh and violent hostility to one of 



he has no voto, and is, therefore, in no sense a j the institutions of their sister states. 
Representative. ' But it is said that the Alissouri line v/as a 

I will not i'urther argue the question, but : comproviise, and at the same time it is said that 
proposeto fortity my positions by the authority I the South exulted over i's passage as a tri- 
cf some ofourH-evolutiouary fathers themselves, ! umph. One of those positions destroys the 
who more tlian all (Hhers ought to be re- I other. If it were a compromise, then there 
^^■arded as ihe proper and legitimate interpreters 1 was conciliation, agreement, harmony. If it 
of the meaning of that inslruinen/, the work I was a triumph then there had been conflict, con- 

their own hands. We have the recorded i troversy and the battle of contendmg parties. 



opinion of Jefferson about the time the Mis- 
souri act was passed emphatically against it. 

Here is his letter to Mr. Moltnes of Maine, 
dated 20ih April, ]820, in which he says 



It was no compromise ; it was a mere act of le- 
gislation. Yet at that early day there were those 
who bitterly profaned what tliey now loudly 
proclaim to be sacred. Thev disre£;ardedit even 



"An abstinence, too, from fhis act of power j in the admission of Missouri for which it was 
would remove the jealosy excited by the un- j formed, and they have refused to recognize it 
deriaking of Congress to regulate the condition as a principle when eVer an opportunity has 
of the different discripiions of men composing occurred, for its practical application to the 
a State. This, certainly, is the exclusive right territories of the Union. 

of every State, which noiliing in tlie Constitu- \ In thus hurrying so rapidly over the points I 
iion has taken from them and given to the Gen- [ have to make, 1 uo justice neither to the suh- 
eral Ciovernnieiit. Could Congress, for ex^im- I ject nor to myself. Yet the brief lime ailoiteii, 
pie, say that the now freemen of Connecticut leaves me no other alternative, 
.should !>e freemen, and tJiat they shall not emi- * I have said that the question of slavery is the 
grate into any other State .'" { all-absorbing question of the day. So it is; but 

This is plain and explicit, and on the very I it is not the only one now agitating the public 
question. miiici. There are others v/iiich engross mucii 

Again, in a letter to Mr. Madisoij on the j attention and discussion. The American PiUty 
same subject, he says : to which 1 belong has essayed to consider and 

"1 am indebted to you for your two letters provide for them all. — 1 will very briefly refer 
of February 7 and 19. Tliis Missouri question ' to some of them. First, in regard to that ele- 
by a geographical line of division, is the most ment of alarm and danger growing out of the 
portentous one 1 have ever contemplated." * * enormous influx of foreign immigration, which 
"Is ready to risk the Union for any chance of j for the la.st ten years has emptied itseif upon 
restoring his party to power, and wrigging him- 1 our shores at the rate of from a quarter to a. 
.self to the head of it." half million per year. I desire to distinctly 

Again he is reported to have said, and I be- state, though the contrary has been loudly jiro- 
• lieve correctly; that when he first heard of the claimed by our opponents, that the American 
Missouri Compromise, v/hereby the territory ' Party does not wage war on foreigners. We 
of the United States was decided by a geogra- only wish to save the free institutions of the 
phicai line, on one side of which slavery was [country from social and political deterioration, 
excluded and on the other tolerated, "it sound- The foreigner who leaves his native laud and 
ed to them like a fire bell atnigiit." [comes here with an honest purpose to sustain 

I have before me the letter of Jvmes Madi- 1 our institutions in their pure republican spirit, 
son, the father of the Constitution, upon this has notning to fear from tlie American Party, 
subject, the lenght of which prevents me from That party welcomes such men. But we iio 
publishing i:. It may be found in the speech intend, if we can, to keep tVoin our shores those 
of the distinguished Senator from Delaware, vvno "leave their Country lor their country's 
.Mr. Clayton, delivered in the Senate on the good," and come to ours 
2d of July last, which fully sustains all the I desire especially, in view of the mighty and 
positions I have taken on this subject. And perilous dangers that now impend over i^e 
Sir, there are other great statesmen of that day country, that is jnanagement and political sup- 
M'ho have avowed opinions coincident with his. port shall be in the hands of those who proper- 
Mere let me say, as was said by a distin- ly understanditsnecessiiies — who understand the 
guished citizen of Kentucky — (Mr. Clay him- various duties which are required of the citizen, 
self) that nothing more demonstrated the un- j and who shall exercise a just and iiittiiigenc 
certainty of history than the fact that the pa- ] discrimination so as to place power into proper 
rentaife of this Mis.souri restriction was aitriOu- hands. Thus far, and thus fdr only, in thi« 



pirtxuiar connection, are \ve disposed to go; ; people. And we reirard them the more dan- 
and, sir, I appeal to any man, in rercrence tn j^enius when they tell us ilus ulieiriiince jm 
this pnrticidar time and period in ourcountry's ■ si.iriiuai, i.ot temporal, for it is the alle"iiince 
Jiistory, if it is not pre-eminently more safe to j of the spirit tha' i^overns the man. 
entrust the destinies of the United States to the Having thus far considered the questions tliat 
voice and guidance of American citizens rather | agitate the public mind, 1 come now brielly to 
than to the rude rabble that comes over to this ' consider tliforeiensions of the various Presulen- 
country attheraleof three or four hundred thou- I tiai candidates for the sulFrases of the Americnn 



sand a year, from foreign lands. But mis ques- 
tion has beensofullydiscussed, and isso well un- 
derstood, 1 will notgo intniisdiscnssion further. ' 
I wish to allude to another subject, which 



people. 1 will not iinderrake particularly to dis- 
cu.ss the pretensions of iVlr. Fremont. I do not 
really know, to be very honest alx ut it, what 
his pretensions are. 1 have never heard that he 



has entered very freely into the discussions of | had any pretensions based upon high piditical 
the day. — 1 allude to the Catholic question. — | renown or distinguished military achievemeui.s. 
My colleague and friend, Mr. .Tewett. will par- | I regard Mr. Fremont merely as the impersona- 
tion of an idea, anil 1 suppose that airnosi any 
body else would iinp«-rsonate that idea as well 
as he. That he is a gallant man, that he han 
stemed the torrent, that he has climbed ihe 
mountain, that he has been imperiled in 
snows, that he has dined upon horse flesh and 
fed on dog's meat, i do not deny. Ijut i ap- 
prehend that in all of these things, Kit C.irson 
is hJ3 equal, and any of the wesfern trappers are 



don me if I do not undertake to jinswer his 
constitutional argument against the righi.s of 
American citizens, upon whatever princifile or 
pretext they chose to adopt, to vote for whom- 
soever they please. My Ci)lleague entered into 
a. labored a'.-gument of three or four columns 
of the Globe, to prove that this right of Ameri- 
can citizens to vote, wa.s, in certain instances, 
namely, whenever they declared they would 



vote for no cine who recognized an allegiance, I his superiors. !f he lias accomplished any 
spiritual or temporal, to a foreign pope, prince I great political work, history has failed to re- 
or potentate, in conflict with the Constitution, j cord it. Yet, sir, that gentleman has gatiiered 
1 had thought that it was a constitutional right 1 around him a great political party. jNow, sir, 
which every one had to vote for whomsoever he j if it be for the purpose of takin<j hold of the 
pleased, and that there was no provision in the j slavery question in the view presented by the 
Constitution which prohibits its exercise. j gentlemen who has addressed us this evening, 

But I leave this point, believing that my I (tVlr. Cragin,) if it be for the purpose of re- 
friend v.ras mislead by that legal lore for which j modeling or changing the Constitution, and 
he is so distinguished. I never, God knows, thereby disturbing those compromises whirh 
heretofore, and never will hereafter, v.-age any I are contained in that sacred instrument in re- 
war against the Catholic religion. So "far as I gard to the question of slavery, I regard it ;.« 
my individual feelings are concerned, I need an exceeding geat mistbrtune. It it be for the 
liardly say 1 would as freely shed my blood t'vr purpose of giving the whole adminisiration of 
the perpetuation of their religious rights and this gentlemen into the hands of a political sec- 
privileges, as for the rights and privileges of any tion, standing upon one idea and circumscribed 
body else; and I announce here, in terms as I by certain geografihical lines, 1 still rejrard it as 
distinct as possible, that there is nothing in the j a misfWtune of the greatest and most imunnent 
American organization which wages waragainst | character. I do not say what will ur wiii noc 
the rights, religious, or political of any human | be the consequence of a .sectional distribution 
being. If there has been a war, it is a war | of the power and patronage of the governiiient. 



which has been provoked and commenced, not 
by the American Piiriy, but by the Catholics 
tliemselves. Notwithstanding that, Iplacethem 
upon, and demand of them, no higher position 
than that voluntarily taken by every oiher 
church in America. Why, sir, in the earlier 
history of the Episcopal church, it had its 
great head in Great Brnain. Their bishops, 
and arcliL)ishops, had there their palaces and 



I trust if the event of his election siiall occur, 
that Kentucky will see the practical operation 
of his administration belore she takes a final 
step to disturb the poluical relations wiwch 
have bound us together in a happy Union. 1 
know not that in the beginning slie ought to 
take it for granted, that i>'iemont will be false 
to ihe dictates of jialrioii.sm and duty. 1 shall 
be willing to wail, but 1 must declare that I see 



nonies, and issued thence their edicts aiul j evil and only evil from the occurrence of such 
orders to the subordinate clergy of Arneri- J an event as his clecnon. Jt would be the hist 
cii. But after we dissolved the political bonds | instance which has occurred in the history of 
which united the two countries, our fathers also this country, when upon sectional grounds- and 
rent asunder the spiritual bonds which bound 
them to the mother country, 



So also acted the 
Methodists, the Lutherans, and all other of the 
chuiches except the Romanists. So far as tiie 
Catholic, the Protestant, the Presbyterian, the 
Baptist, the Methodist, and all other denomi- 
nations, are concerned, we place them all on 
the same level; and if any of them recognize 
any foreign dictation or influence, spiritual or 
temporal, we do not regard them as entitled to 



for purely sectional purposes, a man unsus- 
tained by any strong peisonal consiueraiions, 
and who has never illustrated the history of his 
country by the wiMJoin t.f liis counsel or tlie 
briilaiicy of his arms, has been elevated to the 
chief office of the country lor the purj)ose of 
carrying out sectional purposes. 1 trust it 
will not be, and yet 1 trust if it should be, that 
Heaven will avert from our beloved country, 
the evils that seem to be inevitalde t'rom so sad 



the votes of American freemen, or worthy to j an event. So much, and so much only have I 
be tristed with the destiny sf the Amerirnn ' now to say in regard to Mr. Fremont. The other 



candidate whom I slmll as briefly noiice is the | mepjiing of that word, and I believe some have 
clisiiiiiiuisliecj j:;entleman from Pennsylvania. — j cslied him a Hartford ConverAwn Ftderalist. 
That iVir. Bucl'.anan is n distinguished niao, ] ; Nobody, I presume, will deny the nut.heniicity 
do nor. liesitHie to admit. There is vviiii hiin ] ot' this oration. If uny repiesciitaiive of his 
upon the Democratic, ticket a friend of mine. ] [Slate will correct nie in regard to the fact 
will not imita'e the example of one of my ! whether he did or did not deliver this speech 
colieairues. when speakuii^ of Mr. Donaldson, j attributed to him, I slinll be f;iad to receive 
and nse any disparairins: remaiks of John C. 1 tl-e correction. If not, 1 will take it just a.s I 
Breckenridge- One of my colleagues, (Mr. ] received it from the public journals: and I sup- 
Elliott,) not now pre.seni, when speaking of j pose it to be true. No gentleman hav!n<^ de- 
Mr. Donaldson, was pleased to call him " the I nied its genuineness, I siiall take it for gi anted 
greasy Tennesseean." it is so. 

But who is Mr. Buchanan .' It might seem 1 What next, sir.' Why, sir, in the county of 
presumptuous that so liunibie an nulividual as , Lancaster 1 next find the distinguished gentle- 
] am should unilertake to criticise the character | man at what wuuld be now called anAbolitiiui 
of a gentleman wlio lias filled so large a space i meeting, and proposing aboliiion resolutions 
in the public eye as Mr. Buchanan. But ihe | cisslrongjis any that even Mr. Giddings, whom 
peculiar advocates and friends of Mr. Buchanan i see before nie, would care to do. Then 
have gone out of the way, as 1 ihmk, in criii- ' again we find that distinguislied gentleman 

'stanoir.g m ihe front rank of pro-slaveryism, as 
iar ahead of the common file, as Diiah was wiien 



ici^ing the history of one of his disiinguished 
coDipetitors, Mr. Filbnore — and therefore hum- 
ble as [ run, I will venture to take a brief sur- 
vey of the historj' ot Mr. Buchanan. I depre- 
cate this necessity that the friends of Mr. Bu- 
chanan have forced upon me. But I cannot 
permit them by there railing accusations against 
Mr. Fillmore, to conceal tlie political deformity 
and uncleiuuiess of Mr. Buchanan. 

The tiist foot [nint, upon the sands of time 
that I have been able to lind, left by Mr. Bu- 
chanan, for the special admiration of his demo- 
cratic friends, is an oration delivered by him at 
Lancaster, on the 4th of July, 1815, a day 
consecrated to patriotism, but desecrated by 



j placed in the "fore frotu" by David. Here are 
the resolutions adopted at Lancaster : 
j " Mr. James Buchanan, of Lancaster, ore- 
sented the following resolutions : 

'^ Rcsvtved, th&i the representatives in Con- 
gress from this district be, and they are hereby 
most earnestly requested to use their utmost 
endeavors, as niember>> of the national Legisla- 
ture, to privtnl the txisltnce of slavny in any of 
the Territories or States which may be erected 
by Congress. 

" Resvlvtd, That in the opinion of thi.« meet- 
ihe members of Con irress who at the last 



him on that occasion to the unmitigated abu^e j session sustained the cause of justice, human- 
'of the original democratic party — "vlr Madison i i'y and pairioiism in oppo.-ing liie intnJduction 
— and the war of IbVi — from which 1 make a j oi slavery into the Slate then endeavored to be 
single extract which at once exhibits his abuse : formed of the Misnouri Territory, are entitled 
of the democratic party, his hostility to the 1 lo the warmest thanks of every 'friend of hu- 
war of 1812, and his advocacy of the United j maniiy." 

States BanK- lie said : ! Mr. JEW^ETT, I hope when my colleague 

" Time will not allow me to enumerate all , publishes the Lancaster resolutions, which he 
the other wild and kicked projects of the j says were furnished liim by a friend, that he 
democratic administration. Suince to say, ', will incorporate the uncpjalified denial, in the 
that after they had deprived us of the means of' presence of his author, by Hon. Mr. Jones, of 
defence, by destroying our navy and disbanding i Pennsylvania, of Mr. Buchanan's connection 
our army : after they had taken away from j with said resolutions. 

us the power of re creating them, by ruining I Mr. UNDERWOOD. I willinsert them with 
commerce, the great source of our national and j the endorsement not only ot the geiulenian (Mr. 
individual wealth ; alter ihty had, by refusing I Fiiller,) to whom I am indebted for them, but of 
the Bank of the United States a conlinualion of. others. Fcr 1 am auihoriztd by other gentie- 
its charter, and hara.ssing tlie financial concerns j men of the Pennsylvania delegation, to give to 
of the government, and withdrawn the only ■ Mr. Buchanan, the sole and undivided honor, 
universal paper medium of the country from , which belongs lo the paternity of liiese resolu- 
o.irculmion ; after the people had become un- i tions. This may be set down as the second 
accustomed to, and, witiioul money in the : stage in his political travel. In 1847 Air. Bu- 
Treasury, they rashly plunged into a "war with chanan wrote his celebrated Berks county Iqt- 
a nation more able to do us injury than any j lei'j m which he advocated the extension of 
other in the world. What was the dreadful | the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific 
necessity for this desperate measure.' W'^as ocean ; and expressed his belief that the safety 
our country invaded i^ No. Were our hber- j of the Union depended upon it ; and, as if de- 
ties in danger.' No. Was it lo protect our i terinined to occupy both sides of every ques- 
litlie remaining commerce from ilie injuries i tion, lie now stands forth before the country 



sustained by the orders in council. No. Com 
merce was not such a favorite, and the n.er 
chants wished for no war on that account." 

Here we have the commencement of Mr 
Buchanan's piditical history. Speaking ii 



as the chusen leader and champion of those 
who repealed it — dechiring that that repeal 
must be maintained at every hazard. 

From the oration to which I have referred, 
in which Mr. Buchanun expres-sed his bitter 



railroad phrase, it was his fir.st station. He { and releiules.s opposition to Mr. INJadison, and 
waB then a Fe.dfraiUt, in /he most emphatic ; the war of J81:2, one wouM at least euppose 



lie vvns a imin of peace and srrupiilnusly re- 
^iifdfiil of the i'<;hts of other nations. Time 
iirul ihe |)ro<;ress of evt'ius luive atuiiiJed hirn 
an opportunity to presetit his cliameleon hues 
10 his countrymen even in this reicartl. He 
who prated then so much airainR'- 'he v/nr, 
waeed so iioblj'- by his couniiymen in the as- 
sertion of free sieas and sailor's riiihts, is now 
in t'avor of a u-ar with Old Spain, if nece.ssary 
under the Fillibiisterin<^ doi;triiies of tiie Os- ' 
tend conference — the manitesto of wiiicli, it is 
understood, was prepared by liiin — to rob her 
of Cuba, in tlie event she will not sell it on 
terms the United States may re;!jard as reason- 
able. 

It would seem that these nalpaljle inconsis- 
tencies were enoui^h for the history of any one 
man, yet even they are not all in the revolving; 
scenes that Mr. Buchanan has dehj^hted to fur- 
nisii. It IS atllrmed o! him and tiullit'ully, I 
believe, that he was an ardent friend of the U. 
States Bank — and then as ardently a^Minst it. 
That he was at one time an advocate of a high 
tarilf, and liberal protection to American labor 
and productions. At another, of low lariiis — 
and low wages, till he came to be called, as he 
perhaps deserved to be, "Ten cent .Timiiiy." 

1 v.'ill not trace his sumersets further. I will 
turn fur a moment to a consideration of the po- 
sition the so called Democratic party, occupies 
on the suhje<^t of slaver}'. I do this because" 
this party a.ssumes to be singularly harmonious 
in its opinions and conservritive in us action 
upon this question — and cinims in the South, 
to be the especial and peculiar oruardiaiis of the 
slavery interests. Mr. Chairman, let me say 
to my Southern friends, in perfect candiir and 
honesty, that this is a cheat and a delusion. — 
Why, "sir, the Free Soil party of the JNorih, 
owes its paternity to the Democratic party, and 
IS fed and supplied from and by it. lu ib-lS, 
we had no such party, save a f-^w stra^ir^ling 
abolitionists, such as Garrison, Giddiiig- &. Co. 
But when Mr. Van Buren tailed in tliat year 
to receive the nomination for the Presidency, 
by the Democratic party, at Baltimore, he and 
Ills friends held another convention at Butfalo, 
New York, and then and liiere inaui^urated the 
regular "Free Soil Party,'' the leading princi- 
ple of whicii was declared to he "opposition to 
the extension of slavery." Thousands of De- 
mocrats followed him, and that same Martin 
Van Buren, and his son John, and those De- 
mocrats, standing .still on the Hudltio Plat- 
form, wliich they have never repudiated, are 
now the earnest supporters and advocates of 
James Bucharian for the Pre.sidency. Mr. 
Chairman, do you suppose they do not know 
v/hat they are about .' Can you for a moment 
iniiigine that the Father of Free-Soilism will 
give his support to other than a Free Soiler? 
Why sir, I do not know a leading man of the 
Free' Soil Party, who was not and is not a De- 
mocrat. Such was Hale, and Wihiiot, and llan- 
mui and Chase, and Wade and Tappan, and 
Stuart, and Harlan, and Durkee, and Turn- 
hull and Banks and Grow, and hundreds of 
oihers, 1 could name. And our Southern Demo- 
crats make a pitiable cry that they have been 
destroyed in the North by the Know Nothings, 



as if they cnnid be devtiured, or deprived of the 
right of sulfrase. Why, the Know Nothings 
tried to save them, but they woulil not be sa- 
ved. They rushed peil mell into the arms of nb- 
olifionism, and lost' by their own net, for m> 
one could have taken it from them t!ie politi- 
cal ascendency and power they |i(>psessed ntllie 
commencement of the Pierce administration, 
f will not go into the ciuses that led them to do 
so. They did it. and the Democratic party at 
the North, stands fully aboHtionized this day. 
Yet I admit that there are Northern gentlemen 
who claim to be Deiliocrats and deny being ab- 
olitionists. I affirm of these, that they are no 
less Free Soilers in the main, than their 
fellows. Why sir, v,-ho does not know that 
thi.'i class of the Northern Demncracv. stand- 
ing upon the same platform with their Soutliern 
brethren, iiave been the loudest advocates of 
the Kansas and Nebraska bill and the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise, because they 
contended it was a measure of Freedom, and 
enabled the North to exclude slavery from new 
States formed South of 36° 3U'. Such was the 
position tiiken by President Pierce, and such 
was proven, unon the interrogation of my col- 
league, Mr Cox, to be the ground general- 
ly maintained by the Northern Democracy, 
and I now furth.er and distinctly affirm, that of 
those who have steadily ^o-operated with the 
Black Republican party — ^I use the phrase m 
no invidious sPrtse — twenty-five were elected 
i\s Democrats, and twenty- two of them voted 
for Mr. Banks. It is therefore both melancho- 
ly and ludicrous to hear Southern Democrats 
boasting of their Northern allies. They keep 
with them "'.he word of promise to the ear, but 
break it to the hope." 

I turn nov/, Mr. Chairman, "from these 
muddy Wiiters to a piirer spring." I come to 
say a fe\'.- words in regard to Milliard Fillmore, 
the National American candidate for the Pre- 
sidency. It is one of the saddest contempla- 
tions in regard to liuman action that no degree 
of personal or political purity, of self sac- 
rificing devotion, and lofty virtue can entirely 
relieve man J^from the detraction of his fellow. 
High and bright as has been Mr. Fillmore's 
political c.ireer, he unfortunately is not an ex- 
ception to this general rule, and I have t» re- 
great that one of my colleagues for whom I en- 
tertain the kindest regard, Mr. Burnett, has 
drawn up a regular hill of indictment against 
hiin, in which he is pleased to charge upon 
him as crinres, what if jiroperly understood, 
will be reirarded by the American people as 
virtues. His first accusation against him, I 
believe is, that he voted for the reception and 
reference of Abolition Petitions; from which 
my colleague ssems to infer, he was necessarily 
in iavor of every thing these jietitions contain- 
ed: and by this evidence, and none better, he 
charges him with being in favor of the aboli- 
tion of slavery nnd the slave trade in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia; the abolition of the inter 
State slave trade; the uori admission of Slave 
States, and 1 know not how many other poli- 
tical enormities. With great kindness, 1 say 
to my colleague, his argument is unworthy of 
his own good fame, and I wonder if niy col- 



LiBRftRV OF CONGRESS 



!ea!]^ue would be uiilii)<i to be ineasurei 
rule lie irieeis out to oilierp, of !)eiii,fr pi 
responsible, a-s the advocate of every 
ti!>ii contained in a petition he nii^ht 
ed as a representative to pres-em. Does u 

coileai^iie know, that some years agi'> there Wtis 
a great question in Coiiifress, as to the pregent- 
sitioii anii reception ot'iheseRbolition memorjalsr 
One party claiming, that however opposed they 
nii^'ht be to th" prayer of a petition, it was in- 
cident to the threat ii;:ht of Fetiti'-n secured by 
tiie constitution that it shnnld be received and 
referred. The other that it should be indig 
jiHiitiv rejected. To the fust of these parties, 
Mr. Fillinori belonged, and does not ihe gen- 
tleman know that Jiis own candidate, Air. Bu- 
(ihai.an, not only voted for the reception of Ab- 
Hlilion Petitions, but presented them himself. — 
My colleague in his zeai to strike Air. FiiJmore, 
forgets that by the sfime bio v.- be knocks down 
his friend — and the connu-y knows that lo the 
refusal by Congre.'S to receive these Abolition 
Petitions', more than to any other cause, ihe 
Abolitioiiis'iS by jdentifyaijj themselves wiih 
the great right of |petiiion, owe their early 
growth and expan.sion. Aly colleague has 
made himself the instrument of perfeiing a new 
accu.saiion against Ivlr. Fiiimore, in order more 
effecLuaily, according to Democratic usage, lo 
play upon Southern ProtJiaveryism. This 
accusation is that Air. F. pardoned two men, 
Dray tun and Sears, who ran olfii' a schooner 
fr«m "Washington with 72 slaves. I have look- 
ed into the ficts of that case, and I am happy to 
say, that i have greatly mi.sapprehtnded the 
goodness of my colleague's heart, if in the some 
situation, he had luitaclfd precisely as Air. Fill- 
more did. These men in- their eftort to run off 
with these slaves, were arrested, the slaves return- 
ed to iheir owners. Drayton and Sears, were con- 
victed and fined in a large sum of money, the 
one half payable to. the owners of the slaves, 
and the other to the Government. 'Ihey were 
committed to jail in default of paynient — and 
were there ccnfined for four years, being poor 
and unable to pay the money. In this slate 
of the case, a majority of the owners of these 
slaves — together with others, the most respect- 
able citizens of the (;oniinunity— petitioned the 
President lo pardon them. The ov/ners of the 
slaves well knew that poor as ihese men were, 
so long as they continued to be imprisoned, 
there was no possibility of their paying then- 
proportion of the fines asses.^ed against them. 
Under this state of the case, the President re- 
leased them from imprisonment, expressly 
holding them bound for ihe payment of every 
cent of the penalty payable to the owners of the 
slaves. 

But my colleague revives the accusation, 
that Air. Fillmore ap|)Ointed Free-soil ers to 
office, and had some of ihein even in his Cabi- 
net. One would have supposed that a cham- 
pion and supporter ijf the Pierce administration 
would have furboii.'e this cluirge — an adminis- 
tratioi) having leading iVee-soilers in its Cabi- 
jiet. — which has not only distinguished itself by 
the number of its abolition appointments, but 
which, to make room for more of them, has 
actually removed from ollice hundreds of con- 




011 898 302 5 



ais m I\"e\v York and 
orious free-.soilers in 



ar lo notice further 
eauf.ns. They fall as harmles.'? 
j at the feet of Air. Fillmore, in the light of his 
! illustrious history, as the snow-flake falls on 
I the statue of Washington. Tliere he stands — 
i above all eulogy of mine — upon the platform 
j erected by the American Party — with a history 
I which shames into silence ail the charges of 
' sectionalism brought against him, either from 
j tile North or from the South — proclaiming to 
! all, " If there be those either Is'ofth or South 
i who desire an administration tor the North as 
i Hgdiiist the South, or for the South us against 
] the North, they are not the men who should 
■ give their suffrages to me. For my own part, 
I 1 knew only my country, my v.iiole country, 
i and iioliiidg but my country."' 
I Air. Fremont is the c^uididate of the North, 
; against tlie South; — Air, Buchanan is the cnn- 
I didaie of the South against the North. This 
! vv-ar of the sections, as 1 have endeavored to 
'• portray, is the damning danger of the hour. 
I 1 ask, then, if there is no National party; no 
I true men to the whole land, as one and indi- 
j visible; no broad conservatism, that loving all 
; would .still fold all in ihe embraces of a com- 
I mon Union: Thank God ! I answer, there is, 
I — and AliLL.ARD Fillmohe, ripe with experi- 
j ence, tested and tried in times of peril and of 
danger — having once before rescued his country 
Irom the storms of faction, to the sunlight of 
I peace — stands ready again to lead the patriot 
! warriors for the Constitution and the Umon.to 
victory, ami repose. 

i One word only more. I am gifted with no 
! prophetic vision ; yet 1 will not hesitate to 
' say that if all, both North and South, who in 
their hearts desire the election of Air. Fillmore, 
and who believe that thereby the glory and 
prosperity of their country will be best secured, 
will discard all cowirdly fears of results, and 
come up bravely and give him their earnest 
and patriotic support, Jie will be elected by a 
triumphant and overwhelming majority. Yet 
whatever may be the result of the coming con- 
test, I desire to smy, it will not shake the alle- 
giance of Kentucky to the Union of the.se 
Slates — unless other causes than a constitu- 
tional Presidential election, with the result of 
which she is dissatistied, conspire to drive her 
from it. Kentucky regards disunion as no rem- 
edy for any political ills. She regards it as po- 
litical death, and worse than death — damnation. 
It is the judgment which ueclares, now and 
forever, that man is incapable of seli-govern- 
nient — and that our Revolution and our history 
aie but "a tale, told by an idiot, signifying 
nothing." Mr. Chairman, there is a modest 
stone m yonder monument, erected to the 
memory of Washington, in which is recorded 
in prophetic language, the faith — ihe undying 
faith of Kentucky. Thus it reads : •' Under 
the blessing of Heaven and the precepts of 
Washington — Kentucky will be the last to 
give up the Union." 

In this faith her children will live — and to 
carry it out, they are ready to die. 



^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



01 1 898 302 6 



